The Gemini Project Failure
by animegirl1987
Summary: This occurs during Crisis Core, where several projects have been taking place in ShinRa and here's one that no one has found out about two children who look eerily similar to Sephiroth. What does it mean? Rated T because it probably qualifies as that.
1. Chapter 1 Escaping ShinRa

FFVII Crisis Core – The Gemini Project Failure

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or Crisis Core (boy would I love to though!). I'm merely borrowing the ingenious plot, characters, and the story, adding a bit of my own and my boyfriend's ideas to it.

A/N: Yes, this takes place during Crisis Core, Zack Fair's and Sephiroth's stories before it becomes Cloud's in FFVII. However, this is not completely about them. It certainly has them in it and I know how people hate when others add new people into the mix, but I first came up with this idea for support of the other characters. The new people added are there to hopefully be viewed as supporters for Zack, Cloud, and just the whole plot of bringing down ShinRa. If you don't like new people added, by all means, please don't read it. No reason for someone to read something they won't like. Rather silly in my opinion. For those who do decide to give it a chance, please review and let me know what you think. Thanks!

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Chapter 1 Escaping ShinRa

Pale green eyes looked around the barren room. The whole room was white in color, nothing but that single color. That alone was enough to drive one mad. Try living in that room for seven years of your life. The first five had been spent into another room of only white, but machinery filled it from wall to wall. Machines that seemed like they could do anything from create life to ending it in the most painful ways. Tanks full of sick looking liquids large enough to fit people inside. Compared to that room, anyone would take the barren white room.

There were bunk beds shoved in one corner of the room. In another corner was a toilet and sink. That was everything inside the room other then the owner of the pale green eyes and one other person. Both shared the eye color as well as a good many physical features. Both looked eerily similar to the great legendary 1st Class SOLDIER Sephiroth. There were however, big differences with these two people.

The one currently looking about the room had long lavender hair that could match Sephiroth's silver hair to a tea, but she was a female. It traveled down along her back in a matted mess unkempt and not taken care of. She had nothing to take care of it with and Hojo didn't care. That is, unless she began to listen and do what he wanted her to do. Then she would need to look like a real person. She wasn't one, or at least, Hojo told her that over and over. He would stare down at her over his large nose and those stupid glasses with nothing but a cold gaze. No emotion could be found in his eyes. She didn't care about his opinion, it didn't matter to her. It never did. Only one person's opinion mattered and that person was who she shared this cell with.

The male's hair was the complete opposite in color and length then the female and even Sephiroth. His hair only came to his chin and was pitch black. However, he wasn't all that much better with Hojo. He was just as defiant even if he was eager to learn more about fighting. He sat on the lower bunk bed looking bored. There was nothing for either one to do.

Both were twelve years old, just children living lives that prisoners would. They were prisoners, prisoners of the ShinRa Electric Company. All they had were each other, no toys, nothing. Their knowledge was very limited, they had not been educated in anything but fighting. They could tell you how to kill a man in many different ways, but they couldn't tell you the color of the sky. They didn't know what a tree looked like. They had never met other kids their own age.

The girl looked over at the bottom bunk as she sat on the floor. "We've got to try again," she stated.

Frowning, the boy looked over at her arching a brow. "Again? We can't, you know what he said after we did it the first time. You know what he did…"

"Just because Hojo said it, doesn't mean he did it," she stated firmly glancing down at her left arm. It looked perfectly normal, nothing appeared to be wrong at all. "I only said I woke up to him pulling a needle from my arm."

He shook his head, "We can't run the risk, we can't."

"I can't stay here, I can't! I want away from here! I hate it here!" she burst out pounding a fist onto the floor. "I don't want to be here anymore! We could be free! We could be like other people! We tried before, it didn't work. We were too young, but we can try again."

The dark haired boy pulled in a deep breath before letting it out as a sigh lifting his gaze to the ceiling. Could they possibly be able to do it? There had been no planning last time, it just happened. They hadn't made it very far before they had been caught. There had been deaths, but in the end, it hadn't made a difference. Here they were still.

The lavender haired girl took on the appearance of a little girl as she looked at him. She looked lost, run down, beaten. "Please?" she asked softly.

Swallowing, the boy looked at the floor. He didn't really want to stay. As much as they were learning to take care of themselves, it wasn't enough. She wasn't happy however with their life here. To be honest, he wasn't exactly happy either. He enjoyed the training they received, but he wouldn't go so far as to say he enjoyed his life. Slowly he lifted his head and nodded.

The girl relaxed, closing her eyes a little at the thought of being out of ShinRa all together. What did the world look like? How many people were outside the building? Just how big was ShinRa? She didn't know the answer to these questions, but she wanted to find out. She WOULD find out. What would it be like to be… normal? She had heard Hojo say a thousand times probably that they were not normal nor would they ever be.

The boy looked off to a wall a little curious as to what was out there. He didn't want to be stuck behind walls, a prisoner for all his life. If they were going to train them, he wanted to be using his skills. You couldn't do that behind walls. So why were they stuck in this little part of hell? Why couldn't they go out and do things like those bastard scientists? Not that he thought Hojo did anything anyway. He no doubt didn't go outside himself. The man was a monster. If only he could just lay his hands on that man. Just get close enough without being disoriented and drugged. Hojo wouldn't be so brave then. He would get what had been coming to him for years. All the pain they suffered.

"How are you both today?" asked a high pitched voice devoid of any emotion through the speaker high on the wall with the door that could never seem to open whenever they had tried.

A face wasn't necessary for either child to know whose voice it was speaking to them. It was Hojo. Both could picture his face as he spoke, long black hair tied a the nap of his neck, big round glasses covering emotionless dead eyes perched on top of his long nose. He was so thin, lanky and that laugh of his… it would send chills up your spine.

The girl was the first to answer snarling at Hojo, "What do you care? You keep us locked up in here unless you plan for us to train or… or…"

He simply laughed at them.

Both kids didn't flinch, but the girl's skin was crawling. She certainly wasn't afraid of Hojo unless he started drugging them. Then it meant there would be nothing but pain to look forward to.

The boy's eyes looked toward the door as if expecting the man to open it and show himself. Of course that wouldn't happen until the room filled with smoke or whatever else Hojo cooked up for them to go through. That would only be the beginning. The next step would be some form of experiment, an operation. Days filled with pain and torture.

Hojo's cocky voice filled the air, "I am the reason you exist, never forget it Specimen B."

That was when the girl jumped to her feet, lavender hair fanning as much as a matted mess could. Pale green eyes sparkled with hatred glaring right at the speaker, "My name is Hotaru!"

Hojo snorted, "Still using that ridiculous name you asked that no good assistant about? What about you Specimen A? Are you acting the same?"

The boy's eyes narrowed. He couldn't honestly think that they would always be called by 'Specimen A' and 'Specimen B' their whole lives, could he? "I'm only going by Xavier."

"It hardly matters, neither of you will see the light of day with how you are acting. You most of all Specimen B," came the steely voice from the speaker as it shut off.

Hotaru glared at the door, seething with rage. The man hated her, she just knew it. There was no other word to describe it. Why that was, she didn't know and didn't care. The only thing she cared about was getting out of this place.

Xavier glanced at his twin, crossing his arms over his chest. "Do you think he was being honest?" he asked.

Hotaru turned to look at him putting a hand over her face. She knew Hojo was being serious unless they could find a way to get out and away for good. "Yes," she answered.

Xavier said nothing as he laid on his back staring directly at the bed above him. He would not be confined to a room for the rest of his life. Hadn't they gone through enough experiments and tests? Shouldn't they be ready to go out among the other people who worked for ShinRa?

Hotaru pulled in a deep breath climbing to her feet as she jumped onto the top bunk lying down too. What did the world look like outside of ShinRa? Certainly it must be a wonderful place. Nearly anything would be an improvement over this place. Sleep came as she let her mind wonder imagining just what it might look like.

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Two weeks later, Xavier found himself alone in their room. He faintly remembered gas filling the room before he woke up lying in the middle of the floor. Hotaru had been missing which left him thinking that she had been taken alone for something. Hojo couldn't possibly… no, he refused to think that the man was getting rid of her. They had always been together. Getting rid of Hotaru would only serve to make Xavier reel more. Surely Hojo would know that, right? She could be being punished for her words yesterday…maybe. Just so long as she came back here so he wasn't alone.

Suddenly without warning, the door opened. It never opened before he was knocked out because of the chance he could get away. What could be going on?

Hotaru's face appeared from the doorway smiling at her twin. "Xavier! Quick! Come on!" she said waving an arm toward her.

He arched a brow watching her from where he sat on the floor. "What?" he asked. What was going on here?

"We're leaving! Now come on, before someone suddenly shows up. It seems ShinRa is having lots of problems!"

"Having problems? Leaving?" He was greatly confused as to what she was saying.

Hotaru dashed into the room grabbing his hand and pulled him onto his feet already heading for the door. She was met with mild resistance, but he had never made her come to a stop. He was still trying to process what she had told him. They were going to get out of here!

At once the twins were moving fast along the hall with Hotaru in the lead still holding on to Xavier's hand directing him past all the doors that ran along the hallway. He was glad that she knew where she was going because he certainly didn't. One door loomed ahead, the very door they were going to as Hotaru felt as if the world had finally given them the chance to be free. She threw open the door.

* * *

In another part of ShinRa while Xavier had been unconscious on the floor of the room he shared, Zack Fair, 2nd Class SOLDIER was in his room packing a few of his belongings. It had been two weeks since he had come back from Fort Tamblin in Wutai with Angeal, who hadn't been heard from since. This upset and confused the young sixteen year old man. Angeal was his mentor, the man he looked up to. Where was he? Had he deserted ShinRa as people were beginning to claim? No, he refused to believe it. Not Angeal, he valued his SOLDIER pride above everyone he knew. The spiky ebony haired man pulled in a deep breath before he closed his suitcase. He was going on a short vacation to his little home in Gongaga. He hadn't been sent on an assignment for two weeks. ShinRa thought it best to give him time off to get rid of some of that restless energy he had.

The door opened as he cast a look over his shoulder to find Kunsel there. The other SOLDIER smiled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Heading home for a little rest huh?"

"Better there then stuck here doing absolutely nothing," Zack said, seeming a little irritated. It was of course by no means due to his friend, but of everything that didn't make sense to him. "Besides, I am missing my parents a little. It's been a while since I've seen them last."

Kunsel nodded, walking into the room placing a hand on Zack's shoulder. "I know how you feel man, believe me. You deserve the break after going to Wutai. That was amazing. I'm sorry about Angeal though."

Zack simply nodded, turning toward his suitcase again as a wave of sadness washed over him. Where was Angeal? What was he doing right now? He wouldn't have deserted ShinRa, never. Though… what about Genesis? He didn't know the man well, but he disappeared with a bunch of 2nd and 3rd Class SOLDIERs before they had even gone to Wutai.

Kunsel looked up at the taller man, "I'll e-mail you any information I can gather while you're away, I promise. Rumor or fact, you'll know it as soon as I do."

"Thanks Kunsel, it means a lot to me," and it did.

He nodded stepping outside the room while Zack grabbed his suitcase following after the other SOLDIER, closing and locking the door. "Tell your folks I said hi."

A smile spread across Zack's face as he nodded waving with his free hand heading down the hallway. Well, he was on his way to a week's worth of relaxing. Well, maybe not relaxing, but at least he could see his parents. He was looking forward to it. He got into the elevator stopping as he thought maybe checking in on the last second in the Briefing Room might not be a bad idea. He punched the button, exiting the elevator once it had come to a stop. He had barely gone down the hallway when the door to the Science Department opened up.

Hotaru came to a dead stop staring up at the tall man before her with wide eyes. This couldn't be… they were going to be caught and thrown back in that room! They would be punished for this harshly by Hojo, she just knew it.

Zack blinked, looking at both kids completely taken by surprise. "What… what are you kids doing in there?" They looked like they were abandoned and uncared for. They were wearing what barely made the word rag and so dirty. On top of it all, they looked like they could be Sephiroth's younger brother and sister.

Xavier immediately pulled Hotaru behind him glaring up at Zack ready to strike. "Stay back!"

Zack jumped a little, quickly looking around as he 'shhhed' them. "Quiet! Do you want to be caught? You shouldn't be in there!"

Hotaru peeked around her brother looking up at Zack as her head tilted to the side. This man had no idea who they were. He didn't know they had always been behind the door. Also, she couldn't explain it, but she felt that he knowing of them meant they were safe. They had no reason to fear him at all. "We've always been here."

Xavier sent a hard look back at Hotaru not backing down from his battle stance. "What are you talking to him for?! He could be with Hojo and then we'll be caught and punished!" his words were harsh enough to surprise anyone.

Hotaru's reaction however, had been a cold look that said she wasn't about to back down from what she had just done. "We can trust him Xavier, I know we can."

"How do you know that? You don't, because we don't know him," Xavier spat back.

"It's a feeling I have!" she shot back.

Zack took this moment to intervene, "Woah, woah, I'm not with Hojo. I don't even work with the guy. I don't work in the Science Department, I work with SOLDIER."

The twins turned to look at him with blank looks as if they had no idea what he was talking about.

Ok, maybe that didn't help all that much, but standing here in the hall gave him the impression that these two kids would be in danger. He grabbed a hold of the two pulling them quickly down a little ways and pushed them through the door. Setting his suitcase down, he grabbed two 3rd Class SOLDIER uniforms and handed them to the kids. "Put these on and fast. Make sure to secure the helmet and don't let your hair be seen," speaking more to Hotaru with the last bit.

Neither argued, after all, he was helping them wasn't he? With the clothes he'd given them, no one would know who they were.

As they changed, Zack turned his back. "Why have you two always been in the Science Department? That doesn't make any sense."

Xavier gave Zack's back a glare still not fully trusting the man. His sister might, but he didn't. He saw no reason to trust a man they had just encountered. He might not work with Hojo, but he worked for ShinRa and that in his mind gave him enough reason not to trust Zack. "We were created in there, what else?"

Zack thought that he couldn't possibly be serious. Hojo had created a human being? It would be two human beings since there were two standing there with him. He didn't think that kind of technology existed yet. However, he never really gave it thought either since science was not something he really scared about. It of course had advanced him, but he still didn't really think about it.

"Don't be rude Xavier! He doesn't have to help us at all," Hotaru gave her brother a look. "Hojo created us… he said twelve years ago I think. You're older, aren't you? A lot taller too."

Zack turned around once he heard no more rustling around signaling that they were completely dressed. It turned out Hotaru was having issues with her hair and he helped her tucking it securely under the helmet. "Well," he began, "I'd have to say that sounds about right for your age. Twelve sounds right and yes, I am older then you two. I'm sixteen years old."

"That means you're… thirteen… fourteen," she began counting with her fingers.

Xavier glanced over at his twin crossing his arms over his chest, "He's four years older then us."

"Right!" she agreed looking at four fingers.

Zack arched a brow looking down at the pair, but didn't comment. He had to get moving and the faster, the better. He'd talk to them about it later. "Anyway, we better get moving. I'd say you two don't have anyone who would be able to take care of you?"

Xavier stuck close to Hotaru as they exited the room glancing around the nearly empty hallway. They had been lucky it actually had been empty before or they might not be standing there right now. "No, otherwise we wouldn't be here in the first place." Wasn't that obvious enough?

Zack had the feeling the boy wasn't very trusting and didn't like him. Call it a hunch. "Just leave the talking to me if anyone stops us. I'll take care of things."

They continued on their way getting inside the elevator.

Hotaru wished she had more then two eyes with everything she was seeing. She had never seen anything like this before! Who knew that this was possible? This… tiny room was actually moving! It was taking them farther away from their prison cell! Her heart was racing hardly daring to believe her eyes.

The three exited, walking to the right heading for the staircase. Zack was only half a step ahead of the twins who stood on either side of the taller young man. They went down the steps. So far, so good all three thought to themselves at the bottom heading straight for the front doors. Moments later they found themselves outside the building of ShinRa and walking away toward Sector 8.

"Wow…" Hotaru spoke up finally looking every which way nearly jumping as they continued on their way.

Xavier simply looked around, making no comment. He was certainly amazed by everything, but not nearly as excited as his twin. That is were they differed greatly. Hotaru behaved more like a five year old where Xavier would be seen as a mini adult.

Zack smiled as he looked at the two, leading them past the fountain. "It is amazing, isn't it?" He had never really thought about it himself really, taking it for granted. The girl's reaction had made him think about the world around him. "Oh," suddenly he remembered that he only heard Xavier's name, but not the girl's name, "Your name is Xavier, but I never got your name." He had looked from Xavier to Hotaru.

Hotaru looked over to Zack suddenly, tilting her head to the side. "Oh yeah, you only heard me call Xavier by his name. I'm Hotaru!"

Zack nodded slightly pointing to the stairs they were nearing. "I'm Zack, Zack Fair. I'm heading home to see my parents and they'd be glad to take you in. After we go up those steps, we'll get to a train station and we'll get on the train. We'll be taking an airship to get to where I live because it's pretty far away."

"Far away?" Hotaru repeated smiling brightly. Far away was a good thing. That meant maybe then they would never be found! "Great!"

It was only minutes later that the three were watching the train pull in, unload passengers before they board it glad to be leaving ShinRa far behind them.

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A/N: End of chapter one, please give me some feed-back so I know what you all are thinking as stated above. Not sure when I'll post chapter two, but maybe in two weeks. Just depends since I'm about to start classes next week again.


	2. Chapter 2 Welcome to Gongaga

FFVII Crisis Core – The Gemini Project Failure

Disclaimer: I still don't own FFVII and everything connected to it (which makes me really sad). I do though have the made-up characters along with the ideas I came up with for this. Yay for me!

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Chapter 2 Welcome to Gongaga

The three were on the airship, in the air, and inside the room Zack had gotten for them. It had been his good fortune that not many people were on board so that he could get a bigger room. The driver had not minded and Zack could hardly believe his good fortune. Did it mean then that things would soon turn around? He could only hope this meant things would take a turn for the better. He could only hope that was the case. He turned, looking over at Hotaru who had taken off her helmet and her hair was a mess. Hell, both were a mess. They'd need a good hot bath and a comb. "I've got some shampoo and soap, why don't you two take a bath?"

Hotaru took one look at her hair and frowned thinking of what a mess she must look like. It hadn't mattered before because she had been trapped in a room and hardly anyone saw her. On top of it all, no one had really cared enough. "A bath sounds wonderful." She headed straight to where Zack had pointed out before was the bathroom with Xavier close behind.

"Ah…are you both going to get a bath at the same time?" Zack's voice seemed surprised to the twins.

Xavier arched a brow as he looked back at the older man, "Yeah, why not?"

Zack had been taken back by these words. Xavier looked serious enough to tell him that the boy didn't understand why he was so shocked. "Well…" he said, "You both are twelve now, brothers and sisters don't bathe together at that age. Also, I doubt the bath tub will be big enough for your liking."

"They don't?" Hotaru furrowed her brows. That was odd, why wouldn't they bathe together? "Why? Is there something wrong with it?"

Zack put a hand over his face hardly believing that they didn't know why. They had been taught nothing but how to fight, literally. He couldn't believe this… no wonder they had just started changing after he had given them the uniforms. Why him? He couldn't explain it to them. "Just take my word on it, ok? It's not that important. Let's just go with the fact that it's too small. One goes then the other."

Xavier simply nodded as he sat down crossing his arms. "Then Hotaru can go first."

Hotaru disappeared into the bathroom as Xavier took to keeping to himself.

Zack looked over at the boy feeling that there was a thickness to the air that said things were not going to be easy with him. He was not very trusting at all. Not that Zack could blame him, he had very little reason, he sensed, to trust anyone but himself and his sister. That meant he would have to hope that he was willing to take his sister's words to him not being a bad guy. He wanted to start a conversation, but he had the feeling Xavier was not in a talkative mood.

Xavier made no eye contact nor did he even acknowledge that Zack was in the same room with him.

When the door to the bathroom opened about twenty minutes later, Zack couldn't have been more relieved that the tension had been broken.

Hotaru held a towel over her hair watching the floor, "You can go now Xavier."

He stood up and walked into the bathroom without saying a word.

Zack turned his attention to Hotaru after Xavier had disappeared inside of the bathroom. "Hotaru, why don't I brush your hair? It's really long and knotted badly. I'll work through the tangles gently." He had this feeling of protectiveness whenever he looked at the girl. She seemed so strong and yet fragile at the same time. It was hard to describe in words.

"Would you?" she asked looking up at him with big eyes from under the towel.

With a nod, he dug inside of his bag pulling out a brush as Hotaru sat down in front of him with her back to him. After removing the towel, Zack gently started bushing the mass of tangled lavender hair. "Want to tell me a bit about yourself?"

"There's not really much to tell," both shoulders lifted as a heavy sigh came from the other side. "Xavier and I have always been inside ShinRa. We were created in one of the labs. We've always been together locked in one room. We'd be knocked out one way or another so they could take us out for an operation or training because we were too dangerous to be walked out. A nice assistant lady saw us one day and talked with us. She asked about our names, but we didn't have names though."

Zack leaned a little forward around her. "Hojo didn't even give you names?" He didn't really know the man, it's not like they worked together. They were in very different parts of ShinRa. They didn't come into contact all that much.

She shook her head, "No, he didn't. He said we didn't need them because unless we started acting better, we'd never get out of our room. The lady though, she was really nice. Xavier saw these boxes that had something on it and she said they were letters. He asked what it said and it was 'Xavier', so he took it as his name. She had a book that she bought for her son and showed it to us because I asked. She flipped through the pages and I saw these little things flying around that glowed. I asked what they were and she said they were fireflies, but also had many different names when it comes to what language people speak. She said 'Hotaru' also meant fireflies and I liked it so it became my name. Sadly, she got fired because Hojo didn't like her talking with us. He said it didn't matter that she was nice. She didn't have to be nice and would get in the way. We never got to see her again."

"That's some story," he said, looking over his work so far. He'd made a lot of progress he thought since it had been one hell of a mess. Now, it looked like he was getting somewhere with all that long hair. He'd say somewhere around halfway done.

Hotaru smiled just a little, glancing back at him, "Well, it's not the end. Gee, I didn't think I had this much to talk about. It wasn't long after that, that we decided we were going to try to escape. We got out of our room, but not much farther. Hojo was so mad that I woke up to find him pulling a needle out of my arm. He said maybe he injected me with something that would kill me. I don't really know if he did though. He threatened Xavier's life if I didn't stop trying to get away. I had to do what he wanted. I wouldn't let him hurt my brother. He's all I have. So we were stuck there until today. I couldn't stand it any longer. I don't care if I die so long as Xavier was away from Hojo."

"You're a good sister Hotaru, you really are. You did what you thought you had to, to keep your brother alive. He means a lot to you." Zack had never seen such spirit in one so young as her. She sounded sincere which meant she'd do anything to get her brother out of ShinRa including killing anyone who dare try to stop them. It sounded like life had been horrible, but could it really have been? He didn't doubt her words, she was very honest, but he had never heard of horrors like this before inside the company he works for.

"He's everything Zack Fair, all I have in the world."

A soft chuckle rose as the sixteen year old male came to an end with untangling her hair. It was so long, traveling down the length of her back and even past her butt. She truly looked like Sephiroth with that long hair. "You can call me Zack. Don't worry about my last name."

"What's a last name?" Hotaru turned around a little blinking as she looked up at him with those pale green eyes.

Zack smiled thinking that he would be answering a lot of questions during the week he was home.

The bathroom door opened as Xavier came out looking freshly clean and ready to just relax. It had been a hell of a day for them since they were finally away from ShinRa. He glanced at his twin frowning a little. He would bet anything she had been talking about their life back at ShinRa. "Hotaru…"

A frown spread across Hotaru's face as she looked up at her brother from the floor. "We can trust him Xavier. He hasn't given us any reason not to."

"He hasn't given us a reason to trust him either."

"Yes he has!" she argued back, "He gave us clothes like his and got us out of ShinRa without any trouble!"

"That makes him more suspicious!" he growled, "It was too easy to get out! I think there are people waiting for us wherever we're going right now!"

Hotaru looked upset and angry at the same time, but Zack knew this fight would get nowhere.

Before he got to say anything, Xavier's expression softened before letting out a sigh. He knew his sister was near tears but also angry with him enough to keep them at bay. He was being very hard on her and it was only going to make things more difficult. He may not trust the guy, but he had never stopped trusting Hotaru. That meant he needed to back down. Also, the future wasn't so clear with what she had told him before. "I'm sorry Hotaru. I just don't trust him at all. You might, but I don't and I can't change that for you."

"Then trust me," she pleaded.

"I do trust you," he said approaching his twin before kneeling before her. "Really Hotaru, I do trust you. We've always been together; it has always been just you and me. Now there's some guy that works for ShinRa and I'm suppose to trust him?"

Hotaru's gaze fell to the floor as her fingers fiddled with her pant leg while the anger dissipated. He had a very valid point because they trusted no one at all in ShinRa. There had only been one person and she had been fired due to them. "I'm sorry Xavier… I just have this feeling that is telling me we can trust him. I don't think he would waste time because ShinRa wouldn't like us being farther and farther away from them. He said we're going far away from them. He hasn't lied to us yet and he doesn't know who we are."

He drew a deep breath before letting it out. "That's not going to make me trust him Hotaru. You're going to have to accept that."

She opened her mouth to speak before Zack interrupted, "I don't expect you to trust me at all. You have every right to be wry of anyone who offers you help Xavier. I still don't know everything you both have gone through, but I'm not offended you voice your distrust. Let's not worry about it further though. You two must be exhausted."

Xavier barely glanced at Zack crossing his arms. "Just how long are we going to be in this thing before we're on the ground?"

"What did you call this thing again?" Hotaru jumped in.

Zack smiled to himself once again taking notice of Hotaru's never-ending curiosity. It was something to see. "It's called an airship. We have a fair amount of hours before we reach where we're going. I live pretty far from Midgar, the city ShinRa is in. I live in a little place called Gongaga."

Hotaru wrinkled her nose, "That's a weird name, why is it called Gongaga?"

"That, I can't answer. I don't know myself why it's called that. Someone just named it that I guess."

"Hm… well, it's still weird." She turned her attention to the window then peering out of it gasping. "We're really high in the air! I can't see anything at all! Look Xavier!"

Xavier did go over actually go over and peek a look out the window arching a brow. "We are up pretty high. I didn't even think it was possible to get high in the air like this."

Zack bet they didn't think a lot of things were possible. They knew so very little that a child half their age would certainly know more about the world. However, he didn't doubt for a second these twelve year old kids could beat most of the people in ShinRa. That had been their education, ways to kill a person.

The airship had landed miles from Gongaga stranding the three passengers who were heading for the small town. They had begun walking to the town when Zack remembered he had something he wanted to show them. He pulled a picture of out his pocket before looking down at the twins. "Here," he handed the picture to Xavier, "I thought you two might be interested in seeing this picture."

Curious, Xavier looked at the picture in his hand as his eyes widened. This wasn't possible, how could it be? It was a lie. This was something he had to of made up. It was a fusing of the two together. "Is…is this some sort of trick?"

Arching a brow, Hotaru moved closer to her brother turning her attention to the picture as well. Her own eyes widened not believing what she was seeing. The man in the picture looked just like them! The man had her long hair and all three of them shared the same eye color. Their looks were similar… it was scary. "How can he look like us? Is he our older brother?"

"I… can't say," Zack said with complete honesty. "I don't remember ever hearing about him having any siblings. Then again, it's not like he gives out personal information. I've never really talked with him, his name though is Sephiroth. He's the general of all SOLDIER and the greatest warrior ShinRa has. Everyone knows his name inside and out of ShinRa."

"Everyone?" Xavier looked up at Zack frowning. "Then how is it we don't know him?"

Zack had known the question was coming and had been waiting after he had opened his mouth. "You both were kept from the world. Nothing would have gotten to you unless Hojo wanted you to know." At least, he was assuming that since all they knew was how to kill a person and nothing else. He didn't know Hojo.

"He does have a point. Hojo never told us anything whenever we asked him things. He wouldn't even call us by the names we wanted. To him, we were just things he could mess with and he did every chance he got," Hotaru said, still gazing at the picture.

Xavier agreed, as much as he didn't want to. Hojo told them nothing unless he wanted them knowing. He drilled into their minds how they were created in the lab and very different then himself who wasn't. He put them through operations and torture people could only dream about. The assistants surely paid them no attention, but then again, not many people other then Hojo in the Science Department knew about them. He had asked the lady before and she had said so herself. "Alright, I agree with you there. So this guy could be our brother?"

"It is possible… the three of you look too much alike for it to be a coincidence. There's something going on and I'm going to try to find out anything I can when I get back. It'll be hard, but I'll see if there's something I can find out." Zack glanced back at the two as Xavier tucked the picture into his pocket.

"Thank you," Hotaru smiled.

It was another fifteen or twenty minutes before the three travelers came upon the little place that looked more like a village then a town. It was in the middle of nowhere after all and called Gongaga, Zack's home. It was quiet, with a few people out and about. A few kids were running around chasing after a boy. They stopped once they laid eyes on Zack with wide smiles on their faces. "Zack!" several shouted.

Zack waved his free hand with a smile, "Hey! You kids behaving right? Wouldn't want to hear about anyone stepping out of line or I might have to put you back in place."

They all laughed as a few of them caught sight of the twins standing behind him. One girl spoke up, "Who are they Zack? They're dressed like you so does that mean they work for ShinRa too?"

Zack took notice of Xavier beginning to open his mouth when he stepped in one hand ruffling the spiky hair on the back of his head, "They're friends of mine, and they'll be staying with my parents. I'll be heading back to Midgar in a week, but they'll be staying here from now on. Their names are Xavier and Hotaru. Be nice to them, they're friendly. We've gotta head to my house now, but we'll catch up then. Later!" With a wave of his hand, he set off up the road to his house with the twins right behind him.

Xavier crossed his arms as a sour look spread over his face. "Why did you tell them our names? Who said we wanted them knowing?"

Again, Zack knew what Xavier was going to say and had been ready with an answer. Sighing, he said, "Xavier, you're going to be staying here for a long time. No one knows just how long, but I doubt it'll only be a few days or weeks. You'll be staying months to a year or years. I don't think you're going to be staying in the house all of the time so you'll want to know the other kids in the town to play with them. They're nice kids. You won't have to worry about having trouble with them." At least, he hoped so with Xavier's attitude. It might prove troublesome otherwise. It was only a minute or two later that Zack came to a stop in front of a little house he had lived in his whole life. He opened the door with his free hand stepping across the threshold taking a deep breath before speaking loudly, "I'm home mom!"

"Oh Zack!" came a female voice in another room of the house which was the kitchen. Miranda Fair had just started to make dinner for them. She came into the room with dark hair that her son's hair matched perfectly in color. It was pulled back into a small bun at the back of her head with light blue eyes hidden behind a few long strands that were her bangs. She wore modest clothes that clung to her feminine curves just the same. A long sleeved leaf green shirt and a long skirt of earthy brown that screamed they were people without the need to waste money on expensive clothes. She liked simple, it went a long way too. She stopped in her tracks looking at the twins standing close to Zack. They wore SOLDIER uniforms as well. Did this mean they worked with her son and were friends of his? "I wish you would have given me heads up sweetheart, I didn't know you were bringing friends. I'll need to get out more food for all of us."

"Actually…" Zack began before regarding the twins by his side before looking to his mother again, "They're orphans."

"Orphans?" Miranda repeated before analyzing Xavier and Hotaru a little more closely who were avoiding her gaze as much as they could. It must have been easier disguising them as SOLDIERs then having them wear the clothes they had been originally. There must be many orphans in Midgar, it was a huge city. "You found them in Midgar on your way to the train, didn't you? Were they living in the slums?"

"Ok, maybe I should clear the air a little more," Zack admitted rubbing the back of his head again, "They're orphans inside of ShinRa. They said they were created inside the labs of the Science Department and have been there their entire lives. Today, they started to break out when I ran into them and decided I needed to help them. They've had to same operation as me and I fear a lot more. I couldn't leave them behind and brought them with me."

Miranda looked horrified at his words, looking at the two kids again before turning to yell up the steps, "Asher! Oh Asher, come down here quick! You've got to hear this!"

Footsteps could be heard walking toward the top of the staircase and then traveled down them to reveal a tall man who had his own spiky black hair but much shorter then his son's. His eyes were brown, looking at the four standing in the little living room. He didn't know who the two kids were, but they wore similar uniforms to his son's meaning they had come from the same place. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

Miranda relayed what her son had told her about the twins. "ShinRa might come looking for them Asher, we can't let those people have them. They're only children."

Shocked, Asher quickly looked at the two children before he grabbed a shotgun, "They'll have to-" his swords were cut off as the end of the shotgun barrel was sliced off. He blinked, completely taken by surprise.

Xavier lowered the sword in his right hand as he looked up at Asher. "You wouldn't stand a chance against anyone ShinRa would send to get us," he stated, attaching his sword to his back picking up the cut barrel. He replaced it back on the end before it glowed and was whole again. "Leave the fighting to us; we've been training to do this." He walked away from the group.

Asher said nothing, wondering what in the world that was all about.

Zack gave a fake laugh, making his smile just a bit too big. "I know dad, he has a bit of an attitude problem," he said before pulling Hotaru in front of him resting both hands on her shoulders, "She is well behaved though, her name is Hotaru."

Miranda smiled down at the girl, "That's a pretty name."

Hotaru smiled shyly up at her, glancing at Zack who nodded. These were his parents, she could trust them. "I picked it out myself," she said.

Asher smiled, beginning to think things over. The kids would need a place to sleep. There was a guest room, but it only had one bed. "We're going to have to go shopping. They can't stay in those uniforms. Then there's about a room…."

Zack put up a hand, "Xavier can have mine, I'll move what stuff I left here down in the basement so he can have his own room."

Hotaru frowned a little. They wouldn't be in the same room? The always had been. "We…won't share the same room? We always have shared a room."

Asher shook his head. "No," he said, "you're getting older Hotaru, the rooms aren't big either. You two won't always be living in the same room when you grow up."

Hotaru only nodded in reply.

Miranda smiled heading for the kitchen. "Would you like to help me Hotaru? I'm going to make dinner," she asked.

Hotaru smiled and nodded, "Yeah!" She followed after the older woman quickly.

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A/N: End of chapter two! It might seem a little abrupt, but there are worse things in life. Like having a superhuman man who goes crazy and wants to destroy the whole world and kills the flower girl. We all know that feeling. As before, please read and review. I would really like some feed-back on the plot so far. Obviously it's not far into it, but it's still nice to have someone tell me what they think.

**Queen Baka**: Thank you for the review and letting me know I didn't have any grammar errors. I check it over a few times for adjustments and that reason alone. Hope you continue to like the story!


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